Serie A, Italy's top soccer league, has been given the green light to return on June 20 by the country's Minister for Sport. Serie A has been shut down since early March due to the coronavirus pandemic, which hit Italy particularly hard. The league could be the fourth major European competition to return to play. Germany's Bundesliga resumed its season earlier in May; the Premier League will return on June 17; and Spain's La Liga is eyeing a June 11 resumption, though it hasn't been made official.

While Serie A is targeting that June 20 date, play may resume before that as sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora hinted on Thursday when speaking to reporters. He said that play could begin the week before with the Coppa Italia, as the domestic cup still has the semifinals and final to be played.

"It was a very useful meeting (with league and club officials) and, as we had said from the start, football was always going to resume when we had the conditions to ensure safety and the committee gave the go-ahead to the protocol," Spadafora said, according to Sky Sports. "Italy is getting back on track and it is only fair that football should too. The committee agreed with the protocol, but confirmed the absolute necessity for a quarantine period if a player tests positive.

"We also received guarantees the process of player testing will not affect or detract from the general population's access to testing in any way."

Juventus, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, is atop the Serie A table with 63 points, but second-place Lazio is right on the club's heels with 62 points. Most teams in the league have played 25 or 26 games out of the 38-game schedule.

France's Ligue 1 is the only of the five major European leagues to have its season called off after the country banned sporting events till September.